How sad a face this Knowledge wears! How strange is Truth, which none can doubt! How easy is an Eden made, How hard to keep the Serpent out! How easy to create a Joy, How hard to hold it safe and fast; Since half the world would hunt it down, As Fame, or Love, can prove at last. I'll make my Joy a secret thing, My face shall wear a mask of care; And those who hunt a Joy to death, Shall never know what sport is there! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SONGS OF EXPERIENCE: INTRODUCTION by WILLIAM BLAKE ROBERT OF LINCOLN by WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT THE COMING STORM' (A PICTURE BY R. S. GIFFORD) by HERMAN MELVILLE A PAUSE by CHRISTINA GEORGINA ROSSETTI THE VANISHERS by JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER THE LAST LANDLORD by ELIZABETH AKERS ALLEN |